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A Time to Be Healed

The Spirit of the Lord said, "Today Hugo will be healed."

Often in our prayers we don't consider God's almighty power, which fills every phase of our lives. Our ever-wise God is Almighty. The world is ruled by his foresight and certain events are predestined according to a Godly time schedule (DANIEL 4:35).

I want to share with you the healing of my husband's back. It describes so well what we read in ECCLESIASTES 3:1,3: "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up."

My husband suffered a back injury in 1947. After numerous examinations and x-rays, it was finally concluded that he had a broken vertebrae. He was offered an operation, but without any guarantee of success. Therefore he refused.

He suffered periodically for several years. Sometimes the doctors had to come to our house daily, to give him an injection of morphine - the pain was just so severe. He may have felt better for a while, but then only one wrong movement would cause new pain.

At this time he was a pastor. Every evangelist who visited us, prayed for him. They exhorted him to have faith; they took him out of bed and bent him forward. But after they had left, the pain caused by the exhaustion was often worse than before.

Often he was asked by well-meaning Christians about his devotion and his faith. Was everything alright between him and God? We tend to think too quickly that illness is the result of our sinfulness. Our false judgement can cause much grief and injustice.

The disciples also made the same mistake, when they enquired about the blind man: "Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered: "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him" (JOHN 9:2-3).

After every visit by these Christians who had good intentions, but erred, I had to cope with the spiritual pain and the self-condemnation of my husband. I knew there wasn't any sin in his life; even sin he did not know about, for he was a humble man with spiritual maturity and Christian character. Early one morning the Spirit of the Lord woke me and spoke the following words within my heart, "Today Hugo will be healed. Anoint him with oil and read JAMES 5:14-15. The prayer of faith will deliver him from his illness and the Lord will restore him."

Excitedly, I repeated the healing message to Hugo by saying, "Father, the Lord told me that you shall be healed this morning." He had heard me saying the same words too many times before. I said, "I will get your breakfast, then I will call mother and we will both pray for you." I went downstairs and arranged a tray with his breakfast. Before carrying it back upstairs I went to the letter-box. I wanted to read the mail while he was eating. There was a fax-letter from sister Straisinger from California; she was a precious friend who had read an article that I once wrote for the 'Pentecostal Evangel', and who had kept in contact ever since. I never got to know her personally, but I had told her a lot about my husband's illness.

These were the contents of her letter:

"Sunday night I was extremely worried about your husband and I felt urged to ask my pastor to anoint a handkerchief and to pray over it, which he did. I'll send it to you now. When you have received it, put it on your husband's body, pray and read JAMES 5:14-15 and he will be healed."

My heart jumped for joy. What a wonderful confirmation of what God had said to me earlier, and what perfect timing.

We prayed and laid the handkerchief on my husband's body, and although there was no visible proof of his healing, he began to recover from that day onwards. He never again had any problems with his back.

If you need healing, have courage. Delay does not mean denial. God is Lord and He has His time to heal.